Tag: powell butte

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Evening Bike Commute

Distance: 19.3 miles
Riding time: 109 minutes
Max speed: 32.6 mph
Average speed: 10.6 mph
Temperature: 75º
Soundtrack: Science Friday
Route:

  • Alder to 1st
  • 1st to Salmon
  • Salmon to Hawthorne Bridge
  • Hawthorne Bridge to Springwater Corridor
  • Springwater Corridor to Powell Butte
  • Various trails over Powell Butte to 162nd
  • 162nd to home

What a glorious sunny afternoon to ride my bike the long way home. It was a tremendous effort to climb Powell Butte – one that found me laying down, gasping for breath on the side of the trail at one point – but it was well worth it. On my way down the north side of the Butte, I wondered how hot my brake pads were getting. My rims were plenty hot when I got to the bottom and as I touched the front rim, I heard the distinct sound of air leaking from the front tire. At least it didn’t blow out when I was flying down the hill at 35 mph.

It took me about 15 minutes to pull the tube out and install my spare. I was actually pretty refreshed when I got back on and pedaled towards home. How surprised was I when I came upon this at 162nd and Division:

The picture is pretty blurry (you can click on it to get the full-size version), but it’s a car that had run up a telephone pole and came to rest in a vertical position. Somebody at the scene reckoned he must have been going 100 mph or better. I asked around and they said it had happened about 15 minutes before.

Now picture this: me in the bike lane at that moment had my bike tire not gone flat 15 minutes before. Freaky, huh? More pictures on my Flickr page.

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Morning Bike Commute

Distance: 17.6 miles
Riding time: 1 hour, 43 minutes
Actual time: 3 hours (estimate)
Max speed: 21.5 mph
Average speed: 10.2 mph
Temperature: 63º (with a little rain)
Route:

  • 162nd to Powell Butte
  • Rode in circles for 30 minutes
  • Old Holgate Trail down to Holgate (wow!)
  • Holgate to Buddy’s house
  • Buddy’s house to Foster Road
  • Foster Road to Woodward/Clinton
  • Clinton to Springwater Corridor
  • Springwater Corridor to Hawthorne Bridge
  • Waited 10 minutes for bridge to close
  • Waterfront to Oak
  • Oak to Broadway
  • Broadway to work

I originally intended to ride down to the Springwater Corridor and take that into downtown but taking 162nd south ran me right into Powell Butte. Powell Butte is a park with many trails suitable for biking. It hooks up with Springwater Corridor on the south side, so I decided I would ride over it. It opens with a really steep, but paved hill that will literally take your breath away (from pedaling). After I took a five minute break, I zig-zagged the rest of the way up the hill. Once I got to the top, though, it was easier going. I grabbed the paved trail and went on my way. After riding for about 20 minutes, I was very close to where I had started. Powell Butte has many trails to choose from and I had no idea which to choose. Except it occurred to me that the “Old Holgate Trail” might take me down to Holgate Street which is south of Powell. It did and I came out very close to Buddy’s house. I was going to stop and leave a copy of the Constitution in his door (my new calling card) but his truck was in the driveway and his front door was open. He doesn’t work on Friday so we chatted for a few minutes while I plotted my new course with my bike map. I didn’t think I had much left in the tank so I threw out the Springwater Corridor course, which jogs south a few miles, and adopted a new course crossing southeast Portland into downtown. As it turned out, I was not very fatigued as I pedaled up the ramp to the Hawthorne Bridge. Sadly, they had the drawbridge open and were doing some sort of maintenance which took a very long time. I stood patiently and listened to Handsome Boy Modeling School.